Teddy on shortlist

Director Christopher Banks’ film Teddy is the first New Zealand-made film to make the shortlist for the sought-after 2009 Iris Prize Festival, the winner of which receives the largest prize for a gay and lesbian short film competition in the world — a package valued at £25,000. Teddy is one of 30 films competing for the award in Cardiff from October 7–10. Teddy is about Tony, a dyed-in-the-wool Londoner who has travelled over 10,000 miles to rural New Zealand for a holiday with his ex, the man who abandoned him for a life on the other side of the world — Neil. The 13 minute short was filmed in Helensville and Kaukapakapa, in the Rodney district over two days in late November 2008. It stars Brian Moore as Tony, Chris Tempest as Neil and Alan Granville as Phil.